


The First Time

by Ravenpaw_93



Series: A Dream Come True Prequel Mini-Series [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Harry Potter, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Light Angst, M/M, Parent Draco Malfoy, Parent Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:40:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23271106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravenpaw_93/pseuds/Ravenpaw_93
Summary: Prequel for A Dream Come TrueFour months into helping Harry raise Teddy Draco feels like a complete failure. Harry's a first year Auror in the Academy and works long gruelling hours leaving Draco to primarily care for a temperamental eighteen-month old Teddy. Draco is completely overwhelmed when Harry comes home from work one evening, but as always he knows just what Draco needs to feel better.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Series: A Dream Come True Prequel Mini-Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1673365
Comments: 6
Kudos: 121





	The First Time

**Author's Note:**

> So I randomly got the idea to write this fic at like 3AM. I've decided to do a mini series of these because even though I thought I was done with A Dream Come True's story, apparently I wasn't lol. I just think doing a glimpse into a day in their lives leading up to the main story sounds fun! So here is the first of probably 3 or 4 parts of the mini series. I hope you all enjoy!

Draco stood at the kitchen counter chopping vegetables and tossing them in the salad spinner. He glanced over his shoulder at Teddy who was squealing at one of his toys in his playpen. Harry was due home from work any moment and the sitting room was still cluttered with toys and the mess from Teddy's afternoon snack. Draco stacked the cutting board in the sink and glanced at the kitchen timer. Four minutes until the chicken was done. That should be plenty of time to tidy up the sitting room. He turned on his heel and made for the sitting room when Teddy let out a wail that made his heart drop to his stomach. He swiveled around to see Teddy had thrown his favourite stuffed owl out of the playpen and was now throwing a fit wanting it back. Draco gave an amused, relieved sigh and retrieved it for him.

"There you go." He said cheerfully, handing it to him and wiping the tears from his cheeks. He screaming ceased almost instantly, hiccoughing into a giggle as he squeezed the owl.

Draco chuckled and straightened up and proceeded to pick the toys up off the floor and vanished the mess on the coffee table. The kitchen timer sounded and Draco sighed there were still pillows strung about and blankets strewn haphazardly over the furniture. This was all still so new. He and Harry had left Hogwarts four months ago and Harry had immediately taken on care of Teddy. He'd told Draco his intentions in February while they were still in school. He offered Draco an 'out' and told him to think about it. Draco in turn told him he didn't want an out, he was going to be by his side. From the get go Draco was only spending one to two nights a week in his own flat, but as of two weeks ago, he had officially moved in with Harry and Teddy. Harry started Auror academy two months ago and Draco had, without hesitation, told him he'd stay with Teddy while he was working. His freelance photography job made it easy to work around Harry's demanding schedule. Only, Draco didn't realise how much work it was and he felt like he was failing miserably.

He silenced the kitchen timer and pulled the chicken and potatoes from the oven placing them on the stovetop momentarily. He set the salad spinner into motion drizzling the vinaigrette dressing in. He cast a cooling charm over it and moved the chicken to a cooling rack on the counter top. He crossed the room to the refrigerator for a bag of baby carrots, scooping a handful of them into the steamer with a bit of butter. Carrots were the only vegetable Teddy liked, this week at any rate. Last week it was peas, he'd eaten so many Draco was certain he would turn green from them. Draco heard the Flood chime and Teddy began to squeal loudly, bouncing in his playpen.

"Da!" He squeaked pointing into the sitting room. 

"Yes, that's right, Daddy's home." Draco said encouragingly as he checked the carrots, nearly done.

"Hi little man!" Harry said as he walked into the kitchen and lifted Teddy into his arms. "I missed you so much, you know that?" 

Draco turned to watch Harry snuggle Teddy against his chest as he kissed the top of his head, ruffling his turquoise hair. He felt the familiar warning sensation in his chest he always got when he saw Harry with Teddy. He was a natural. Draco wished it came as easy to him. Not that he doesn't love Teddy. He does, and he loves that his job allows him to be home with him, but Draco couldn't help the sense of inadequacy that he felt. 

"I missed you too, beautiful." Harry said grinning at Draco as he put Teddy on his hip and stepped closer to give him a soft kiss. "Dinner smells amazing."

"I meant for it to be ready and the house clean before you got home." Draco replied, unable to keep the disappointment from his voice.

"That's all right, love. I'm sure Teddy kept you plenty busy today." Harry said gently. "Do you need any help?" 

"No, no that's alright. It's nearly finished. You go sit down, you must be exhausted." Draco replied insistently, Harry helping him would only make him feel worse. 

"You sure?" Harry asked his brow furrowing slightly.

"Of course. Why don't you pop Teddy in his highchair, go wash up and get out of that sweaty uniform?" Draco replied, pressing a kiss to Harry's temple. 

"Okay babe." Harry grinned at him and took Teddy to his highchair and buckled him in. 

Draco waited for Harry to leave the room before turning around and gripping the counter, letting his head drop. He thought this would be easier. In his head he envisioned Harry being able to come home to a spotless home and a hot meal on the table and Draco and Teddy waiting. Instead he came home most nights to a completely destroyed lower level, a wailing child and a frazzled and harried Draco running around trying to keep it all held together. Teddy ran everywhere, he didn't believe in walking and he was a fearless climber, a combination that kept Draco on high alert all day. It also led to many tantrums when Draco stopped Teddy from doing what he wanted. 

He lifted his head, rolled his shoulders, and took the carrots out of the steamer and put them on one of Teddy's small plates and cut them into small bite site pieces. He scooped a couple of potatoes from the pan and did the same with them. He pulled a knife from the block on the counter and began slicing the chicken, cutting Teddy's into minuscule pieces. He piled a plate full of potatoes and chicken for Harry and served some for himself and sent them zooming to the table. He filled Teddy's blue beaker with some apple juice before sending plates and the salad bowl to the table with a jab of his wand. He popped the cap off a beer for Harry and filled himself a glass of water. Harry was reentering the kitchen, his damp hair tied in a messy bun, dressed in comfortable joggers and an old Gryffindor Quidditch t-shirt, as Draco turned to take Teddy his plate and juice. He had Harry's beer in the crook of his arm and his own glass of water balanced in the same hand as Teddy's beaker. Harry gave him an exasperated smile and hurried forward and took his beer and Draco's water from his arms and took them to the table. 

"You're too stubborn." He chuckled as Draco placed Teddy's plate on the tray in front of him. Teddy blew a raspberry and immediately grabbed a fistful of carrots smashing them into his mouth.

Draco shook his head fondly, sighing as he finally took his seat across from Harry. He couldn't remember when he last sat down. 

"Just now working that out?" Draco teased in return. "How was work today?"

"Gruelling. Taylor's trying to kill us all, I'm sure of it." Harry snorted. "We had conditioning today and I know if  _ I  _ was struggling, some of those other lads aren't gonna make it." 

Draco felt ashamed of the flare of resentment he felt. Gruelling meant Harry was going to be too tired to do much of anything except mind Teddy while Draco cleaned up and would likely fall asleep in front of the telly while Teddy had his bath. He felt selfish, but his and Harry's relationship had been a bit lackluster in the intimacy department since Harry started work and Draco missed the way it used to be terribly.

"They had you conditioning in your full kit?" Draco asked instead, widening his eyes.

"Yeah. Taylor gave us some waffle about giving us the 'real world experience,' personally I think he's just a sadist." Harry retorted, humming as he took a bite of his dinner. 

"You're only two months in, that's absurd. I've seen some of those guys, they're hardly in shape enough to handle that." 

"Exactly. Honestly, I doubt Taylor's fat arse could make it through the course in training gear, nevermind a full kit. He just stood to the side screaming at the poor blokes that were lagging behind." Harry rolled his eyes before turning to Teddy and grinning at the mess he'd made of himself.

"Taylor's a prick. How are the other lads in the Academy, are any of them a step above bumbling idiots yet?" Draco asked, Harry had whinged since his first day about being paired off with other less than capable trainees. He and Ron were seldom paired together.

"Yeah. There's one other guy in there with us that knows what he's doing. We got paired together today. Houghton's his name. Knox Houghton I think he said. He was–"

"–I know him! He was a year behind me in Slytherin." Draco interrupted. "He took my place as Prefect sixth year, actually." 

"That's what he told me. He asked if we were still together and I told him yeah we recently moved in together and got custody of my godson. He said he was glad you're doing well." 

"That's surprising." Draco snorted, reaching over and wiping mushy carrots from Teddy's chin. He grinned at Draco and grasped at his wrist with his chubby fingers. He pressed his cheek to the back of Draco's hand for a moment before releasing him and returning to his chicken. "Now you want to be sweet. He smacked me in the face during lunch." Draco continued glancing at Harry.

The small smile he had on his face turned quickly into a sympathetic frown.

"He doesn't mean anything by it, love. He's still learning." He said soothingly.

"I know." Draco sighed, still it seemed as though Teddy spent more time unhappy with Draco than happy. Granted it was for his own good, Draco couldn't let him do things that were dangerous just so Teddy would like him.

After dinner Harry cleaned up Teddy and took him to the sitting room and Draco got wearily to his feet and set about cleaning up the mess from dinner. He heard Teddy giggling and squealing in the other room and he felt a pang in his heart. He knew he was being silly. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he was doing a terrible job at this. He bit his lip hard trying to regain some control over his feelings. Teddy had been up and down all last night, he was exhausted but the house was a disaster, and Teddy still needed a bath, but Draco just wanted to sit down and relax with Harry. He cleared his throat and blinked furiously. He felt absolutely pathetic. 

"Hey," Harry said quietly behind him. "Everything alright?" 

"Yeah, everything's fine." Draco said in a strained voice, keeping his back to Harry, to hide the tears that he was now unable to stop. "Go play with Teddy love, I'll be in there shortly."

"Uh-uh. Teddy's good, he's in his swing. Everything is not fine, please look at me." 

Draco wiped his face on his shirt sleeve and turned to face Harry.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm being stupid. I just feel like I'm failing horribly at this. You always have to come home to chaos and that's my fault. No matter how hard I try by the end of the day I'm scrambling trying to keep it together. And then when you get home Teddy is so happy and I feel like he  _ hates _ me. He cries all day long because I don't let him have his way and he misses you. I just feel like I'm fucking everything up. I'm so sorry." Draco blubbered, burying his face in his hands. 

He felt Harry wrap his arms around him and he buried his face in his shoulder and sobbed. Harry rubbed his back consoling him.

"You are doing a fantastic job, love. I don't expect to come home to a clean, quiet, house and a meal waiting for me. You're too hard on yourself. We're all still adjusting and Teddy's just at an age where he's testing boundaries. He'd do the same to me if I were here more. You're exhausted and you need a break. There's a hot bath and a glass of wine waiting for you upstairs. Don't worry about the dishes or the tidying up. I've got this." Harry said softly, smoothing his hair.

"Thank you." Draco sniffled, straightening up and wiping his eyes.

"No need to thank me. I'm sorry I haven't been helping like I should, I'll do better. I promise. Go on, upstairs with you. Go relax." Harry replied, giving him a kiss.

"Okay." Draco smiled at him as he stepped around him.

He walked into the sitting room toward the stairs already feeling better. Perhaps he had just kept everything bottled up too long and just needed to get it out. Teddy squealed as he walked past and grinned at Draco reaching for him. Draco stopped and gave him a hug and smoothed his hair. Draco didn't understand how, but seeing his precious smile made him nearly forget about the tantrums, hair pulling, and smacks to the face. 

"Love you, sweet boy." Draco murmured, kissing the top of his head before heading up the stairs.

He walked into the bathroom to see Harry had indeed drawn him a bath and put it under a stasis that had given the water a slight shimmer. He stripped out of his clothes and stepped into the tub. He sipped his wine, leaning back against the tub letting the hot water soak away his exhaustion. After his wine was finished he pulled the plug from the drain, climbed out of the tub and towelled off. Harry had even laid out a pair of pyjamas for him. 

He felt refreshed as he stepped out of the bathroom and carried his dirty clothes and towels to the laundry chute in the hallway. He furrowed his brow as he heard Teddy wailing through his cracked bedroom door. He crept down the hall and slowly opened the door. Harry was bouncing and shushing him but his little face was beet red and he was kicking his feet furiously chanting  _ no no no no. _

"Everything alright?" Draco asked tentatively from the doorway.

"He wants you. He will  _ not _ lay down for me. I'm sorry, babe. I was trying to give you a night off, but he is having none of it." Harry explained looking crestfallen. 

"That's okay. I don't mind." Draco replied, giving him a smile as he walked into the room toward them.

Teddy turned his head to look at him still sniffling and whining pitifully. His eyes widened and he released Harry's neck to reach for Draco.

"Dada-dadada!" He shouted squirming in Harry's arms.

Draco stopped in his tracks and looked at Harry gaping. 

"He's never called me that before." He said his voice barely above a whisper. He was overwhelmed momentarily by a rush of pure joy, he felt the corners of his eyes prickling with tears again.

"I told you." Harry said grinning at him handing Teddy off.

Draco held Teddy close to his chest and he wrapped his little arms around Draco's neck, hiccoughing into his shirt. 

"It's alright, sweetheart." Draco murmured, patting Teddy's back comfortingly. 

"Looks like you've got it under control in here." Harry said grinning. "I'm going to finish up downstairs."

He gave Teddy and Draco each a quick kiss before disappearing into the hallway. 

"Dada rock." Teddy mumbled sleepily, rubbing Draco's shirt in between his fingers.

"You want me to rock you to sleep?" Draco asked softly.

"Dada rock." He repeated.

"Okay baby." Draco turned off the overhead light and fiddled with the switch on his constellation projector night light. 

He lowered himself onto the rocking chair in the corner next to the cot. He adjusted Teddy in his arms, cradling him against his chest as he gently rocked the chair back and forth. His mother had warned him that rocking him to sleep was a bad idea, that they should let him get used to falling asleep on his own. Draco refused to listen. He hated to just let him cry, and really what was the harm in Teddy wanting to be rocked to sleep every night. Even on the long, trying days like today this was his favourite part. Ever since the first night Teddy had stayed with Harry, Draco was the only one he would go to sleep for. He'd found a strange sort of comfort in the feel of Teddy's tiny body curled against him, rubbing his shirt lazily between his tiny fingers, something he'd later recognized was a sign Teddy was sleepy. Draco still felt that sense of comfort as he looked down at Teddy's sweet, sleeping face. He waited a few minutes before easing himself out of the rocker and laying Teddy gently in his cot. He stirred briefly and Draco laid a hand on his chest until he settled back down, fast asleep. 

He crept out of the bedroom, leaving the door slightly ajar and padded down the hall to his and Harry's bedroom. He was delighted to see Harry was still awake, looking ridiculously attractive lying lazily across the bed with his joggers slung low on his narrow hips and his shirt discarded on the floor next to him. Draco smirked at him as he closed their bedroom door with a soft click.

"Hope you're not too tired." Harry said, giving him a crooked grin.

"For you? Never." Draco replied, crossing the room and climbing onto the bed.

Maybe this day wasn't so awful after all.


End file.
